Apple wins UK essential patent claim against Samsung

Apple Inc. has won the latest installment in its epic patent war against Samsung Electronics Co., after a U.K. judge ruled on Thursday that the California-based company did not infringe three Samsung patents on mobile technology.

At trial last year, Samsung contended that Apple had infringed three of its patents involving the transmission of data over third-generation mobile networks. London-based Judge Christopher Floyd, however, found that Samsung should never have been granted the patents in the first place, since their use existed in prior art.

A Samsung spokesperson told Bloomberg that the company will review Floyd’s ruling before deciding whether to appeal. “For decades, we have heavily invested in pioneering the development of technological innovations in the mobile industry,” Samsung said in a separate statement. “We will continue to take the measures necessary to protect our intellectual property rights.”

Last October, a U.K. judge granted Samsung a somewhat Pyrrhic victory when he ruled that the Korean company’s Galaxy tablets did not infringe the iPad because they weren’t “cool” enough to be confused with Apple’s product.